In construction, masonry, or home repair work, it is often necessary to walk or support materials on a pitched roof of a building. For example, in the repair of a chimney, a ladder may be tied to the chimney with a rope to hold the ladder on the roof so that bricks may be supported on the roof and prevented from sliding off the roof by the rungs of the ladder.
Conventional peak hooks for supporting a ladder from a peak of a pitched roof typically have a narrow, elongated, single hook-shaped configuration. In particular, such conventional peak hooks comprise a relatively short leg which extends over and engages a rear surface of the roof, and a relatively long leg having an upwardly-extending portion which can be positioned to engage and support the center of a rung of a ladder, e.g., generally about a single point.
A drawback with such conventional peak hooks is that they attach to the center of a rung of a ladder which is the weakest part of the ladder. Another drawback is that the relatively short leg of such conventional peak hooks digs into the roof causing damage to the roof.
Still another drawback with such conventional peak hooks is that a force or forces applied unevenly across the width of the ladder tend to cause the ladder to pivot about the attachment between the peak hook and the ladder, i.e., the center portion of the rung. If a sufficient force or forces are applied, the ladder will pivot relative to the peak hook and to the roof which causes the peak hook to move towards one of the sides of the ladder.
Therefore, there exists a need for peak hooks which engage a relatively strong portion of a ladder (e.g., portions of a rung of the ladder adjacent the sides of the ladder), spread out the forces exerted on a rear surface of the roof to reduce the likelihood of damage to the roof, and/or which securely support a ladder in a relatively stable fixed position from a peak of a pitched roof particularly when unequal forces are applied across the width of the ladder.